Christopher Kane

Known for experimenting with leather, plastic, crochet and gingham; Christopher Kane is the Willy Wonka of the British fashion industry. Born on 26th July, 1982 in the Scotland, Kane has established his name in the industry by his wickedly original ideas and designs.

He relocated to London in 2000 to study at Central Saint Martins where he completed a foundation course in fine arts along with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in fashion design. While he was completing his degree he got a chance to work with big names of the industry like Giles Deacon and Russell Sage. In 2005, Donatella Versace noticed the Scot designer when he won the Lancôme Color Award. He graduated in 2006 and started working as a consultant for Versace but turned down the fulltime job offer. He started working on his own line and soon he opened his shop with his sister, Tammy in Dalston, East London. The same year, he won the Scottish Fashion Awards. He funded his debut collection from the sponsorship of British Fashion Council.

He is one designer that doesn’t go by the trends, but does what he thinks is right. In February 2007, the stores welcomed his Capsule Collection for Topshop and won Designer Award of the Year at the Scottish Fashion Awards for the 2nd time. In November, he became the New Designer of the Year at the British Fashion Awards.

The next year started off with being featured in Vogue’s From London, With Love. He also created the juicy tube lip gloss collection for Lancôme which was a limited edition. His spring collection in 2009 broke all records and was sold out within 24 hours of the launch at Net-a-Porter. A documentary was also made and aired by BBC 2 about Kane’s success in the industry called Raising Kane: Fashion’s New Star. He designed t-shirts in response to the high demand of his monkey dress featured in his spring collection in May. In September, Kane’s new line for Versace was debuted and the year ended with winning another Designer of the Year Award from the British Fashion Council.

Kane’s menswear collection debuted in the start of 2010 and his previous collection was also showcased on the runway of Lakme Fashion Week in India. In the same year, he won the first ever Vogue Fashion Fund of 200,000 pounds and a year’s worth of mentoring. In November 2011, he designed a denim line for J Brand. The New Establishment Award he won at the British Fashion Award was an addition in the many accolades he’s gathered in his illustrious career. He was added in the Vogue L20 list, which included the biggest names in the fashion industry. Kane was number 45 on the list. He quit his partnership with Versace in November and moved on to greener pastures.

In 2013, 51 percent in Christopher Kane was taken over by Pinault-Printemps- Redoute, the French fashion conglomerate which was going to change its name to Kering. The conglomerate had many plans in store for Kane. A Kane boutique would open up and another ready to wear clothing line would be launched. In December, Kane won yet another award at the British Fashion awards; Best Womenswear Designer of the Year. This year, Kane designed and presented his first line of leather goods.